Spoilers for Season 1, Episode 8 of Dutton Ranch are ahead! You can stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription.
Ever since Dutton Ranch premiered on the 2026 TV schedule, I’ve been comparing Joaquin to Jamie Dutton. The two wayward sons have/had turbulent relationships with their families that led to spirals that could be bad for everyone. That became very apparent during Episode 8 of the spinoff when Joaquin resorted to calling his dad. It became even clearer when Juan Pablo Raba told me why his character’s call is actually incredibly scary and impactful.
Between Episodes 7 and 8 of Dutton Ranch, Joaquin has taken a few very painful blows. First, Annette Bening’s Beulah chooses to give the ranch to Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) instead of Joaquin. Then, after turning in the gun used to kill Wes to the sheriff, Joaquin decides to call his birth father from a cemetery, saying: “Hola, papá. Necesito tu ayuda.” That translates to “Hi, Dad. I need your help.” When I asked about the significance of this choice, Juan Pablo Raba told me:
I think it's horrible. I think that we see two huge heartbreaks for Joaquin very [quickly]. The first one was not getting the throne, and the second was making that call. Like having to make, – I think that's a call that he has kind of known that was going to happen at some point, but was his very last resource. And Joaquin is also very smart, and he knows that by making that call, he's going to change everyone's life.
Now, how will everyone’s lives change? We don’t know yet. However, Raba made it clear to me that this decision is game-changing and goes against everything Joaquin has tried to do. After working for the Jacksons for so long, he feels like he’s between a rock and a hard place, and the only move he could see is to make this call. Explaining why he wouldn’t make this call earlier, the actor said:
So it's a double heartbreak, because that's not what he wanted to do. He went through college, he got his degree, he liked it the hard way. He stayed in a place where he knew he was not loved, he never had parental love. He grew up in this loneliness, and with a brother that dislikes him. But he still decided he was not going to make that call. He could have done it a long time ago, and he didn't.
It’s clear in the show that Beulah’s choice to give the ranch to Rob-Will was the final blow for Joaquin, when it came to his cooperating with this family. That’s a shame, because he is very close to Beulah, and he has spent his life working to help her and the ranch. By making this call, he’s going against all this work, as Raba explained:
It has to be so frustrating and heartbreaking to actually have to make that call. And as I said, that's the second biggest heartbreak for Joaquin, is that he knows that by making that call he's going to action some mechanisms that have no turning back, and the worst of those mechanisms is knowing that the love he has fought so hard to obtain from his mother is gone forever.
Along with this being a big deal for the Jackson family, it’s also bound to impact everyone. That’s because, much like how the Jacksons know about Jamie’s disappearance, Rip and Beth now know about the Texas family’s business in Mexico.
That’s relevant, because later in the interview, when I asked Raba about how involved Joaquin is in the darker side of the Jackson’s business, he brought the conversation back around to his character’s dad. He noted that Joaquin is very involved in the Jackson’s business down in Mexico, and he emphasized that “anything that has to do with his dad is out of pure necessity.” So, the fact that he willingly called him is troubling, and means that he’s “destroying” what he’s fought for with “one call.”
I also asked the actor if we’d learn more about his relationship with his birth father in the upcoming season finale. In response, Raba said:
Oh, yeah, we will, and it's not going to be fun for anyone.
So, be worried, people. Everyone is headed down a dark path as we get closer to the Season 1 finale of Dutton Ranch. Plus, with Season 2 on the way, whatever happens after this phone call is sure to have repercussions on the story as it moves forward.
Now, to see how this call causes no fun for anyone and changes Joaquin’s dynamic with the Jacksons, you can catch the season finale of Dutton Ranch next Friday.
